Battle of Midway - 75 years ago today

[Randy Daytona]

04 June 1942 - one of the most important battles of WW2

Devastators of VT-6 aboard USS Enterprise being prepared for take off during the battle

Yorktown at the moment of impact of a torpedo from a Nakajima B5N of Lieutenant Hashimoto's 2nd chūtai

Hiryū, shortly before sinking. This photo was taken by Special Service Ensign Kiyoshi Ōniwa from a Yokosuka B4Y off the carrier Hōshō

Mikuma shortly before sinking

Apparently the Chinese are still studying this battle.

http://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1782311-why-china-is-studying-the-battle-of-midway

 

[Max the Mad Russian]

Not only Chinese, but their interest is clear enough since they adopt USN way of cadre policy: the leadership of carrier fleet should have the aviation roots and background; Midway, meanwhile, was the only carrier battle of all six (four in 1942 and two in 1944) where all admirals involved in command afloat were all shoes, on both sides, except for aviator Mark Mitcher who was RADM nominally but still a CO of USS Hornet actually - and all activity of Hornet and her air group was the poorest of all forces.
Interestingly, here in Russia in naval colleges' history course Midway battle had and has a name "Stalingrad at sea", which underlines its importance for all WWII

 

[Max the Mad Russian]

Yorktown at the moment of impact of a torpedo from a Nakajima B5N of Lieutenant Hashimoto's 2nd chūtai

As this is definitely the first of two torpedoes that had hit the Yorktown in that attack - the hit in a port side boiler room that occured to be fatal all in all - this is a torpedo from Hashimoto's Kate itself. But Hashimoto himself was NFO and not NA, and as far as controls/levers list of his second cockpit shows, there were neither torpedo sight nor torpedo drop lever there: this hit is to credit to Hashimoto's pilot, a young petty officer 2 class - sight and drop lever were in his hands. The ship was making then about 19 knots and on evasive turn, so this guy at the controls of Hashimoto's B5N was kinda marksman. Just two cents to a role of enlisted men at war...